


Fault Lines and Faults

by pliable_cedar



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Break Up, F/M, Heartbreak, Implied/Referenced Cheating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 10:51:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6326089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pliable_cedar/pseuds/pliable_cedar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She leaves over and over again, and he always waits patiently for her return. But, he can't do it anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fault Lines and Faults

 

“You’re going back tonight,” I heard a soft whisper behind me, “Aren’t you?”

I finished doing up the buttons on my shirt before sighing and turning to face her. There she lay, tangled in the sheets, her eyes sleepy and her hair dishevelled, but devastatingly gorgeous. She gazed at me longingly, expectantly and I imagined lying to her.

_“No, I’m just going for a bit of fresh air”_

_“I’m starving, was going to get something for us to eat”_

_“No, silly, I’ve just got to go into the office for something.”_

But what would’ve been the point? I saw her face fall even before the “Yes” passed my lips.

“Oh, alright then,” She huffed and then turned over to go back to sleep. I stood up and put on my shoes and coat and just as I turned the doorknob she spoke again, “This will be the last time though?”

I couldn’t tell whether it was a statement or a question, but her voice was filled with a hope I couldn’t bear to destroy. I took a fleeting last glance at her and stepped into the night air. I scoffed, “Of course not,” and my words were carried away by the wind.

My feet crunched through the fallen leaves of autumn, and the wind bit against my face in the most refreshing way during the walk to his house. I preferred not to apparate there because the time taken to walk allowed me a chance to clear my head of her. Then again, it wasn’t very difficult seeing as thoughts of him were never far away. Even in the cold, my face felt warm as my excitement grew. I was finally going back to him. _My Ron._

Consequently, my feet began to move faster as I drew nearer to my destination, sending leaves flying in my wake. I could see the silhouette of his building down the street and I couldn’t help but think of the warm bath he always had ready for me when I returned; the soft towels and cozy sheets and his gentle hands taking care of me. He always knew when I would return for some reason, and that made me love him all the more.

As I approached the door, I pulled out my wand to whisper a simple _alohomora_. Despite what I told her, there was no doubt in my mind that I would always come back. This was _home_.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 “She’s coming back tonight” I heard someone say, “Isn’t she?”

I blinked my eyes distractedly, slowly being pulled out of my thoughts.

“Ron!” another voice, female this time.

“Wha-?” I finally snapped out of my daze and looked up to see an annoyed Ginny and a concerned-looking Harry. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Harry turned to Ginny, “Gin, you go on ahead. I’ll be through in a moment, I want to talk to Ron first.” Ginny looked ready to put up a fight, but she glanced at me and conceded. She placed a kiss on my cheek before disappearing into the Floo. Harry, however, sat on the edge of the coffee table, facing me.

“Hermione, she’s coming back here tonight, yea?” He said quietly.

“Any minute now,” I replied, not meeting his eyes.

“And you don’t kn-“

I sighed. “No. I don’t know where she goes, or who she’s with, or what she’s doing. And it kills me every single time. But I don’t know what to do...Because everytime she comes back, everything is better, like she never left.” Harry looked at me sadly, but everything he wanted to say to me I knew already. I’m sure my face mirrored his, because I was just as unsure.

So, instead he stood and made his way over to the fireplace, tilting his head one more time to look at me. “Are you going to do anything?”

“I think so,” I breathed, but his sympathetic smile told me he’d heard me. He gave me a reassuring smile one last time before stepping into the flames and disappearing. Just then, I heard the lock on the front door click open, signalling her arrival. I took a deep breath and made my way to the door.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door swung open and I peered inside, but the entryway was completely empty. I stepped in cautiously, looking for any sign of Ron, but I didn’t spot him. _Could it be that he wasn’t home?_ But Ron was always home, _always_ here, standing by the door ready for me when I got back. So where was he now?

I took a few more steps down the hallway before he appeared from the living room, hands in his pockets and his head bent, and I instantly breathed a sigh of relief. I grinned up at him, “Ronald, there you are.”

He glanced up for a moment before smiling weakly, “Uh, yes,” He bent his head again and moved one of his hands to rub the back of his neck anxiously. After a moment, he spoke again, “Harry and Ginny just left.”

“Oh!” I turned around and shut the door behind me and began to unbutton my coat. “It’s really been ages since I’ve seen either of them, I only catch glimpses of Harry in the elevators at work. We’ve all been so busy haven’t we? I ought to pay them a visit soon. In fact we should go together! Have dinner or something of the sort…” I looked back towards Ron and he hadn’t moved an inch, eyes still trained on my feet and now, a troubled look on his face. I hung up my coat and made my way over to him, placed my hand on his arm “Ron? Are you...?” I didn’t know what I wanted to ask him.

He finally looked up at me, eyes burdened, and breathed a heavy sigh, “Hermione, I am tired.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as the words left my mouth, her face fell. She turned away from me and went back to the door, sitting and moving to take off her shoes as she said, “Tired? We all get tired, Ron. It’s nothing a little love and care can’t help.” She threw a small smile at me before looking down at her busy hands.

She was pretending that she didn’t know what I was talking about, and for a moment, I realised she was giving me the chance to do the same. Just forget about what I wanted to say, what I was feeling, and go back to pretending we were happy and that our life was perfect. Easy.

But I couldn’t anymore. “I can’t anymore.”

She didn’t even look up at me, but her words bit.

“Can’t do what, Ronald? Put up with my shit? Be patient with me? Love me?” Then her voice softened, pleading, “You know that I’ll always come back to you, you’re the only one I could ever love.”

I felt all the hurt that I was holding start to outpour itself in my words, “Just because you come back doesn’t erase the fact that you were gone. Every time you go and you leave me here wondering where you’ve gone and thinking about what I could’ve done to make you stay. I put my life on hold waiting on you all the time and it doesn’t even matter to you! How can you say you love me when we both know you’re out there doing whatever you want with god knows who!”

She instantly jumped to her feet, “Ron!”

I saw tears welling in her eyes but I couldn’t stop, “Do you think about how much you love me when you’re with them? Is that how you do it? Think about _me_ when they’re fucking you? Scream my name?”

She hunched over and began to sob, choking on her words,“R-Ron, I thought you l-loved me?”

I sighed and moved over to her, lifting her face up to look at her, “I do love you, more than you deserve.” She turned her gaze away from me. “The only reason I ever let you come back here every time you leave and break my heart is because I love you.” When the new tears flowed down her cheeks, I wiped them away.

After a while, she sighed deeply and looked at me, placing her hands over my own on her cheeks. “What are you saying, Ron?” she whispered.

I gently pulled away my hands and took a step back. “This is not going to happen again” I spoke clearly, finally, “This is the last time.” She nodded at me, eyes red, accepting her fate, the consequences of her actions.

She put on her shoes and took her coat off the hanger, not even bothering to put it on. She looked at me one last time and said, “This is all my fault.” For once, I didn’t tell her she was wrong and I didn’t forgive her. She sighed again and opened the door, disappearing into the night.


End file.
